> It was not an auspicious start to my career in computer science. I'd argue the opposite! Learning how to "run" code in your head, cover edge cases and invar

> It was not an auspicious start to my career in computer science. I'd argue the opposite! Learning how to "run" code in your head, cover edge cases and invariants, is a great skill to practice. When I was at a hospital after a difficult operation, I used to write down pages and pages of C64 programs in my notebook, too :-) Even if I never even typed all them out later, I like to think this made me a better programmer. It trains your brain in a way that REPL doesn't.